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Wednesday, October 27, 2010


The funnest (is that a word) thing about having a young niece (she's 22) is that you get to do really cool things with her and not be the MOM. You are the cool Aunt. So, today Paige and I went to the store and bought the ingredients to make two things. The first is scarecrow cupcakes that are so cute you could just eat them up (which is what you're supposed to do with them). The second was pumpkin cupcakes that are just plain good!


Check out our handy work. Sadly, only the not so perfect ones stayed here. The good ones went to the boyfriend's house because it's his sister-in-law's birthday. But WHATEVER! We had a blast making them. The picture above is some of the better ones that are now on their way to the party.
So fun!


Sunday, October 24, 2010

French onion soup broth....

Just a quick FYI before my mom comes back and takes the computer away. French onion soup broth (just a spoonful or two) is VERY good mixed in with Science Diet Light....ooops, here she comes.

My Brother and Rachel Ray

You gotta love a brother that a) knows how to cook, b) let's you live with him, and c) learns from Rachel Ray. So tonight, my fabulous brother Jim made French Onion Soup from scratch following Rachel's recipe. It was sooooooooooooooooo good. (It is not a 30 minute meal, and btw, the ingredients for this cost him $50).
My brother seems to think it's going to taste better tomorrow after all the flavors meld together. It was pretty darn good tonight! Betsy Lou waited patiently to see if she would get any, but she's on a diet, remember?
I don't know why I can't post this picture right-side up. I have fiddled with it long enough though. You get the idea!
Thanks Rachel and Jim!
























































Thursday, October 14, 2010

Culver's French Fries


It was an amazing day today. First off, my mom took me with her ALL DAY LONG. We went to visit my sister Millie and her mom. I am not sure if Mommy forgot about my diet, but she actually fed me a Culver's french fry! I swear...she did. I have witnesses and everything. In this picture I look like I am missing teeth but I think it's just the angle mom took the photo from. I almost look like a vampire bat, but I was so excited to eat that french fry that I didn't care what I looked like! That was the major highlight of the day. Spending time with Millie was fun but I am always a little leary of Millie as she was Mommy's first love. She is the daschund that came before me and started my Mom's love of Daschund's. I have this sort of fear in the back of my mind that Mommy loves Millie more than me. I am the second born. However, I realize when we leave Millie and go back home that I am truly number 1 and I am the most important dog in the world. Millie will always be special, but she has her own Mom to love her and I have my Mom all to myself. A Mom who clearly loves me more than anything, proven by the fact that I did get a Culver's french fry today! Anyway, after we left Millie I had to compete with the other love of Mom's life -- my real life brother Michael. He's a little tougher to compete with for obvious reasons. BUT, I realize that Michael is a grown man who has his own life and I am dependent upon Mom for all my care, so it's me who gets all the attention. Make sense? It does to me. I didn't see her giving Mike any Culver's french fries today. Nope...that's something she did only for me. I am the MID. That Most Important Dog. And today was a great day. Millie, Mike and everything.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Purina Dog Chow can be delivered to your house!!!

Are you aware that if your Mom goes on the internet she can go to http://www.peadpod.com/ and actually order dog food and treats to be delivered right to your front door? You heard me...you not only get the excitement of the doorbell ringing, but you get dog food delivered! And if you're a first time Peapod-er like we were you get FREE delivery. Around here, FREE is good. So, yesterday the door bell rang and I got to scare the heck out of the delivery guy. He tried to hide his fear of me by smiling and saying I was adorable, but I am pretty sure that underneath he was terrified. I have that effect on people. So, here's my advice to you dogs who's Mom's have not yet discovered grocery delivery.

Put on your best puppy eyes. You know what I mean. If you are good enough at it (like I am) you can put on a face with very little effort on your part. It's the look of "I am very sad that you are leaving the house to go shopping without me...in fact, I am pretty sure that you don't even love me anymore, but I'll be OK. I'll just lay here and wait for you to come back..." Like this:


It is very effective. So, she gives in and goes on line to Peapod and orders PURINA DOG CHOW! I did not say Science Diet Light...I said DOG CHOW! It has cheesy bites and everything in it!!!!! I was thrilled!!! But then all hell broke lose. I found out if was for Bailey! Bailey is my cousin who is fit and thin because she is a show-off who runs around the yard and exercises. I am still stuck with Science Diet Light. At least that is what I am leading everyone to believe...
Shhhhhhh, I have a secret that NOBODY and I mean NOBODY knows about. I non-chalantly walk into the kitchen and look around for witnesses. If the coast is clear, I take one piece of Bailey's dog chow and then stash it under the living room chair for consumption later. I do this enough times and I have an entire meal that is NOT diet food. Not only do I get the pleasure of stealing something that belongs to Bailey, but I can eat REAL food! Well, almost. I am still working on a way to do this with hamburger and rice. That might be a bit trickier, but I will eventually devise a plan for that, as well. Just wait and see. For now, I am happy with my current plan. Tee hee hee....I am such a clever dog!

Saturday, October 02, 2010

What is the world coming to?








Last week I was the queen. I was ROYALTY. I would get hamburger and rice for dinner. I would get a treat just by using my big brown eyes and looking a little sad. Something has shifted here. I am thinking of maybe peeing on mom's computer so she cannot read articles on the internet anymore that state that my chances of this injury happening again will be reduced if I am "trim and fit". Well, let me tell you that "trim and fit" is not fun. No sir. I would stand on my head if I could get mom to give me some of the white bean chicken chili she made but she is having none of my antics. In fact, it just upsets her more that I might hurt myself again. Well, my thinking is this...if I DO hurt myself again, I can have hamburger and rice. I think it's sad that while Mommy ate the chili I got the usual. How appetizing is this? Sure, the bowl says GOOD DOG at the bottom. I'm not buying it. Good dogs should get steak bones, hamburger and rice, dog treats, etc.








I'm just not buying it.



Chicken and White Bean Chili for Human's Only


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=13010&origin=detail&servings=9

This is an awesome recipe. It took like 10 minutes to prepare and it's really good! The part that took the longest was finding all the stuff in the grocery story. I don't know why Illinois has their stores organized so poorly. And of course none of the can sizes ever match the size the recipe calls for. So you will need to wing it. Oh, and if you have an electric can opener that dates back to the Flinstone era, perhaps it's time to invest in a new one. It's also disappointing when you make this and are really proud of it and then everyone comes home and says "I'm not hungry" or "I was going to Quiznos". So you know what I say? More for me. To Betsy's dismay there is not any for her. We are taking her diet very seriously and you will most likely hear about it when she blogs later today. She is clearly not happy with me but I read an article last night and it's for the best that she gets in shape.

But back to my GREAT FOR FALL COOL NIGHTS AND FOOTBALL GAMES White Bean Chicken Chili. Top it off with a touch of sour cream and you have a meal. A seriously good meal that will beat Quiznos any night of the week. And it's so much better than Science Diet Lite.

PIZZA A GO-GO!

Okay, the first step is to admit you have an addiction...You know who you are.

Most of us love pizza.  In fact we love it so much that we have it delivered, we buy really bad versions of it at baseball games, roller rink's and amusement parks. Of course the frozen pizza has become a staple in many of our homes.  And, when funds or energy levels are low we can at times get desperate and resort to making (and eating) what can only be described as a faux pizza-esque type food.  You know what I am talking about; the english muffin pizza, the bagel pizza, hell I bet you have even put red sauce and cheese on white bread and thrown it under the broiler! 

Well there is good news addicts, I have come up with a 15 minute make at home pizza that you will love!  And, if you are a generous person you may want to share it with family, or friends, but seriously you are under no obligation to do so.  I, of course, am not a generous person and if you touch my pizza I will burn you down.  The End.

I got the original idea from a pizza that California Pizza Kitchen put out a year or so ago; the Swiss, ham and caramelized onion pizza.  Alas, it was a limited edition and once it was gone I went into a depression that I can only assume was like post-partem.  Having no kids myself I have no idea what post-partem depression is like but I think its really bad and therefore you can understand my comparison and utter feeling of loss.

Heavy Sigh.

After a substantial grieving period I decided that being the fearless foodie I am I could make this pizza.  At first I bought pizza dough and rolled it out. I caramelized the onions, and I made a bordelaise type sauce which was on the original pizza.  And, I have to admit it was one screamin' yummy pizza.  However, the downside was it took an hour to prepare and 20 minutes to bake...Way, way, WAY too long for a pizza addict to have to wait to get her fix!

So, I played with ingredients and I fussed with dough's and I tried pre-made crusts, and I created sauces and eventually, I came up with what is in fact a damn good pizza that takes no time at all and is easy peasy to make.

Ingredients:

1 Premade cornmeal pizza crust (I prefer the premade cornmeal crusts from the Nugget Market, however, I am also fond of the Mama Mary premade crusts which are not cornmeal.  Both are packed in two's and run about 5.00 a package.)

2 tablespoons of alfredo sauce

1 small block of good gruyere cheese (Swiss is a great option as well)

2-3 green onions

1 small heirloom or on the vine tomato

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of salt

(Optional) pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Assembly:

Spread olive oil evenly over crust and sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes if desired.

Spread alfredo sauce evenly over crust and top with chopped or sliced ham, green onion and tomato.  Top pizza with shredded gruyere cheese and bake according to crust package instructions.

Let the pizza sit a minute or two before slicing and remember the cheese will be hot.  It is also a good idea to line the bottom of your oven as the cheese may bubble over and cause a mess.

VIOLA! - Behold the awesomeness!!!



Now, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is as follows: 

Be bold, go forth and create pizza!  I highly encourage you to experiment, and craft, your own masterpiece or, sample mine.  Then write back and share your story with Food A Go-Go!, we would love to hear what you think.   

Well that is mostly true, we would like to hear what you think...Okay, we really don't care what you think at all, but go ahead and tell us anyway.